MORNING BRIEFING

Well, if they can't deliver the Cup . . .

Imagine that you're a Dodgers season-ticket holder and there's a knock at the door. You answer, and Russell Martin or Andre Ethier is standing there to hand over next year's tickets.

That's not a far-fetched notion for some season-ticket holders of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, who reached the Stanley Cup finals last season but lost to the Detroit Red Wings.

Several Penguins players, led by star center Sidney Crosby, and Coach Michel Therrien this week made just such a delivery -- unannounced -- to 35 randomly selected ticket-holders around the Pittsburgh area.

Athletes can draw support from some unusual places. Just ask Michael Strahan.

In a profile of the former New York Giants defensive end airing on HBO's Real Sports, Strahan said that as a youngster "I was fat" because "I really just sat around and ate."

After being chided by his brothers, Strahan decided to get fit -- spurred further by watching Jane Fonda's workout videos in the early 1980s.

"If it weren't for my brothers, I would not be here right now," said Strahan, now an analyst for Fox's NFL coverage. "Because Jane Fonda was popular back then . . . I literally tried to work my butt off.

He added, "I set the [quarterback] sack record because of Jane Fonda."

Teed off

Duke University said the son of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani was properly dismissed from its golf team and was never promised a spot on the squad.

Andrew Giuliani sued Duke in July, claiming he was improperly cut from the team earlier this year and that the coach violated a contract he entered when he agreed to come to the university and pay $200,000 in tuition and fees, the Associated Press reported.

Duke countered in a court filing Wednesday that Giuliani, 22, was properly suspended after throwing an apple in the face of another player, breaking a golf club during a tournament, injuring a teammate and becoming verbally abusive with a coach.

Trivia answer

The 1991-92 season.

And finally

For what it's worth: Manager Joe Torre has the Dodgers at 75-71 and in first place in the relatively weak NL West. His replacement in New York, Joe Girardi, has won two more games than Torre, but the Yankees are fourth in the AL East, 11 games back.